Drying apparatus



A. STEVENS.

I Drying Apparatus.

Patented July.- 31, 1866.

-UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEG ANDREW STEVENS, OF WEST MILTON, OHIO.`

DRYING APPARATUS.

Specieation forming part of Letters Patent No. 56,823, dated July 31,1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW STEvENs, of West Milton, Miami county, Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drying Apparatus 5and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawingmaking part of this specication. I

My invention relates to that class of drying apparatus which areemployed for drying fruits, vegetables, roots, &c. and my improvementsconsist in so arranging the apparatus that the greatest amount of heatcan be attained from a small quantity of fuel, while the drier is sosimple in its construction as to be easily managed, and it can beerected at a mere nominal cost.

In the accompanying drawing, which is a vertical longitudinal section ofa drying ap.- paratus embodying my improvements, A represents `thehousing supported on a brick or stone foundation, B, which completelysur.

` means of `the pipes b.

The pipes b may enter the chamber a sufficient distance to conduct thecold air to the f bottom of the furnace C; but these pipes may beomitted and openings in the Walls substituted for them without impairing the efciency of the apparatus.

Placed immediately above the furnace Gis a concave deecting-plate, D,extending the entire length of the drier, and the object of thisdeflector is to distribute the heated air from said furnace equally intoall parts of the apparatus. The end cl of this detlector passes throughthe Wall of the hot-air chamber, so as to communicate with the externalatmosphere, and a current of fresh air is always entering at said openend d, as indicated by the blue BJITOW.

vThe pipe which conveys the smoke and other products of combustion fromthe furnace U is composed of two vertical portions, E E', and onehorizontal part, F, andsad horizontal part is located at about one-halfthe height of the apparatus.

If preferred, a series of pipes may be substituted for the ones E and F,and the horizontal ones may alldischarge into a drum located at theintersection of said horizontal pipes with the vertical smoke-pipe E',the position of said drum being indicated by dotted lines in thedrawing.

Placed above the horizontal smoke-pipe F is another concave deilector,G, which serves to distribute the hot air from said pipe F in the samemanner that the deiiector D does from the furnace C. This deector doesnot communicate directlyA with the external atmosphere, but it issupplied with cold :air in the following manner: H is avertical cold-airpassage located between the pipe E and housing A, having a semi-tubularform, and provided at its lower end with a valve, H', for regulating theadmission of cold air, while its upper end has a series of apertures, h,through which the cold air escapes and is brought in contact with thepipe F and bottom of the detlector G. This cold-air passage H serves thedouble purpose of admitting air to the detlector Gr and also preventsthe housing A from being warped and cracked by the heat which isradiated from the pipe E. p

I I I, Ste., are a number of cleats placed athwart the drying-chamberfor the reception of trays J, which trays are composed of side pieces,j, end pieces, K K', and slatted bottom j'.

The cleats I and end pieces, KK', of the trays form, when in position,one side of the vertical hot-air ilues L L', and a current ot' hot airis continually passing up said dues and escaping from the drier throughthe ventages a a, and said ventages may be partially or entirely closedby means of the slide-valve M.

The entire apparatus is protected from the Weather by the roof N, andaccess is had to all parts of the drier by simply opening the doors OO'. t

Operation: The trays J being filled with fruits, vegetables, or anyother articles to be dried, the doors O O' are closed and the re lightedin furnace (l. The furnace C and smokepipe E E' and F being composed ofsheetmetal, the `heatspeedily passes through them and warms the body ofair contained in` the drier in a few minutes, and as the hot air ascendsand escapes through the ventages a a fresh air is entering through thepipes b, and thus a constant circulation of pure warm air is kept upthrough the entire apparatus. As the warm air circulates it passes upthel flues L L', and also between the slats j of the trays bottoms, sothat any articles which may be placed in said trays are completelyenveloped in this constantly-ascending current of warm air, and all ofthe moisture which may be contained in said articles is extracted fromthem in a few minutes.

By surrounding` my furnace with a wall of brick, stone, or othersuitable heat-retaining material, I am enabled to economize the fuel tothe utmost, and the brick serves as a good foundation, which preventsthe wood-work from rotting by coming in contact with the damp earth.

Corn stalks or cobs, chips, twigs, and stubble may be used for fuel inmy furnace, by which means the expense of using my apparatus is reducedto a mere nominal cost.

I have described my drier as constructed on a small scale for thepurposeof drying fruit, 85e. 5 but it is evident that the apparatus maybe enlarged, so as to season lumber for carpenters, sl1ip-builders,andfarmers use 5 and when it is to be employed in connection with a factoryor mill which is furnished with steam power the escape-steam from theengine may be conducted into the furnace C, which will thus serve asasteam-drum, from which it will l Y pass into the pipe E E F, therebywarming the air as completely as though there was a fire in saidfurnace.

I claim herein as new and of my invention.

l. Arranging the cleats I and trays J of drying apparatus so that theymay form or side of a hot-air ue, L, as described.

2. The vertical cold-air passage H, whe placed between the smoke-pipeand housin of a drying apparatus, substantially as d. scribed, and forthe purpose set forth.

3. In the described combination, the vertica cold-air passage H,smoke-pipe E E F, and the concave deiiecting-plates D and G, arrangedand operating as explained.

4. The horizontal branch F, when arranged to pass between two sets ofdrying-trays, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony of which invention I hereunto set my hand.

ANDREW STEVENS.

Witnesses:

GEO. H. KNIGHT, JAMES H. LAYMAN.

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